Indian oil refineries have halted new orders for Russian oil following the imposition of sanctions and are awaiting official clarifications from government and suppliers. This was reported by Reuters.
Several refineries are meeting their oil needs through the spot market, anonymous sources noted, as they are not authorized to speak to the media.
State-owned Indian Oil has announced a tender for oil purchases, while conglomerate Reliance Industries has ramped up spot market purchases, sources say.
The EU, UK, and US have imposed a series of sanctions against Russia due to its war against Ukraine, including new US measures targeting two of Russia's largest oil companies — Lukoil (LKOH.MM) and Rosneft (ROSN.MM).
As Reuters reported, Indian refineries are preparing to sharply reduce imports of Russian oil to comply with new US sanctions, which could ease a major barrier to trade agreements with the States.
Last week, Reliance, India's largest buyer of Russian oil, stated that it would comply with sanctions while maintaining relationships with existing suppliers. Reuters also reported that the company plans to halt oil imports from Rosneft.
"We have not placed orders for new batches and have canceled some bookings with traders linked to sanctioned entities," one source said.
"We need to ensure that our purchases are not associated with sanctioned individuals, otherwise banks will not process payments," another source added.
Another source indicated that their company is waiting to see if it can obtain shipments from non-sanctioned traders or entities. According to IEA data, India received 40% of its total oil exports from Russia.